Saw a sign at the grocery store that stopped me cold

I was at the Publix on Main Street in Greenville last Tuesday, just grabbing stuff for dinner. Posted on the deli counter was a fact: the average American tosses out 40% of the food they buy. That number hit me hard because I think of myself as someone who doesn't waste much. Has anyone else seen a statistic like that in a random place and had it change how you shop?

3 comments

3 Comments

martinez.kim7d ago

Whoa, hold up. 40% sounds like one of those exaggerated numbers they throw around to make you feel BAD. I mean, really? I grew up in a house where we ate leftovers and my grandma would reheat soup for a WEEK. People don't just toss half their groceries for no reason. Maybe if you buy a bunch of fancy organic stuff that rots in two days, sure, but most folks I know eat what they buy eventually. I call shenanigans on that stat.

ellis.susan7d ago

Wait, don't you think that 40% number actually comes from studies where they weigh trash, not just from guessing? Those researchers go through people's garbage bins and track what gets thrown away. My cousin works in waste management and says the numbers are real - lots of perfectly good food ends up in landfills. It's not about fancy organic stuff either. It's about people buying too much because they forget they have stuff in the back of the fridge. Your grandma probably planned meals better and knew how to use every bit, but a lot of folks today just don't cook like that anymore.

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phoenixb347d ago

Hear @ellis.susan out on this one... her cousin seeing it firsthand makes it more believable than just some stat. The grandma comparison is spot on too-my mom was the same way, grew up poor and could stretch a single chicken into three meals. But I watch my roommate toss out half a bag of spinach because he forgot it existed for a week, and he's not alone. People get busy and lose track of what's in the fridge, then it's just easier to buy new stuff than deal with the wilted mess.